Videos & Rules

North Korea Hacking Into Online Gambling Revenues

Published Friday, July 08, 2016 -
Online-Casinos.com

The international cyber criminals have been putting some serious effort into breaking the trust people have for the online gambling industry. Authorities remaining vigilant and constant find these illegal gaming operators all over the world through investigations and informants.

An article that recently appeared on a well known online gambling news site has revealed the seriousness of the international threat that the industry faces on a daily basis. The Korea Times news reported that the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau runs many cyber bases in China and Southeast Asian countries as part of broader efforts, Yoo Dong-ryol, the head of Korea Institute of Liberal Democracy said. "Through operations in cyber gambling units, and development and sales of gambling programs, North Korea brings in an income of about 1 trillion won ($863.9 million) annually," he said.

Speaking at the South Korean military’s annual security conference in Seoul, Yoo commented that, North Korea operates “tens of hubs in China and Southeast Asia” aimed at generating much needed foreign funds to prop up the isolated military regime.” He said money is being stolen by, “developing and selling illegal gambling programs, operating gambling sites using names of foreign nationals and stealing cyber money through hacking.”

The researcher referred to an event during the FIFA 2014 tournament involving fifteen North Korean nationals which Cambodian authorities detained for the operation of an illegal online football betting enterprise in Phnom Penh. In addition to the standard haul of computers and wagering records, the police also seized a $8.6m in cash. Yoo also said that North Korea had recently added 800 hackers, bringing the total hacking force to 6,800.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimated there were a total of 1,100 North Korean agents operating online gambling sites that targeted South Korean punters.